Naruto: Amongst the Whirling Tides Chapter 29

Hi all, 

Here’s the final chapter for the week. There’s a huge battle as Jiraiya tries to subdue Killer B and prevent him from escaping with valuable intelligence.

Chapter 29

The two Shinobi stared at each other across the distance, their meeting threatening to devolve into conflict. Already, he was assessing both his opponent and the terrain, calculating how he was going to fight him.

“You and your apprentice brat always involve me in troublesome fights, Jiraiya,” Gamabunta said, releasing a puff of smoke from his pipe. “First it was the Ichibi, now it’s the Hachibi. Do you want me to die?”

“Be quiet, Gamabunta,” Jiraiya said. “I want to avoid fighting if it’s at all possible.”

Killer B wasn’t going to be easy. In fact, he was sure he would lose in a protracted fight. On his own, Killer B was a powerful Taijutsu fighter, and Jiraiya was sure he couldn’t match his speed. Furthermore, the man was a capable kenjutsu fighter, and wielded seven swords. The man had an unusual fighting style, utilising both wrestling moves and unpredictable attacks to unsettle his opponents.

If he was going to fight him, it would have to be at a distance, where he could use Ninjutsu to even the odds. As long as he did that, he was confident of winning. But that was only when they were fighting without using their transformations.

His opponent was also the jinchuuriki of the Eight Tails, which only lost out in strength to the Kyuubi in terms of raw power. The main problem was that Killer B had full cooperation with his tailed beast, which afforded him several abilities that made him almost impossible to deal with. Not only did he have access to the two versions of his tailed beast transformation, but he could enter Tailed-Beast Mode and remain in complete control of himself.

Even with Sage Mode, he wouldn’t be able to match him. Beyond giving the man a huge boost in both physical and chakra, the man could fire several tailed beast bombs and still continue fighting. If he were to take one of those bombs head on, he might not be able to survive it. 

The best chance he had was to buy time until reinforcements arrived. 

“Why are you here?” Jiraiya asked. “You are a long way from Kumo.”

“No particular reason,” Killer B said, taking a few steps out of the cave. “A was working me to the bone, so I escaped to venture out on my own.” 

“How did you end up on the island?”

“I went for a swim in the sea and washed up here like a discarded piece of debris.”

Jiraiya stared at him, unimpressed. “Then why were we hiding out in a cave?”  

“Fool, I wasn’t hiding.”

“There is no need to try and hide your intentions,” Jiraiya said. “You're here as a scout for your village, aren’t you? To gather intelligence on our capabilities.”

Killer B didn’t reply.

“Why don’t we sit down like civilised gentlemen and discuss it. I’m sure we can come to some arrangement that will benefit both of us.”

Again, Killer B didn’t respond. He cocked his head, as if he were listening to someone. 

Due to his decades of experience, Jiraiya felt the moment where the talking was over, and where the conflict started. Jiraiya started swiftly executing a series of hand seals.

“Gyuki tells me that you are buying—”

Jiraiya slammed his palms onto the ground. Summoning: Toad Mouth Bind.

The path in front of him was engulfed in a pink sticky substance. It quickly expanded upwards until the space was closed off inside the toad's oesophagus. Jiraiya frowned when he noticed that he hadn’t managed to trap Killer B within it. Truth be told, this plan didn’t have much hope of working, because he wasn’t in a confined space, but an open area. Furthermore, it was more effective when taking the opponent off-guard. Still, it could have ended the fight right then and there if it had worked, so it was worth the gamble.

 He performed a hand seal, and the toad's stomach disappeared. He quickly started performing more hand seals but was forced to dodge when Killer B appeared at his side. 

Killer B pursued him. “Take my lariat, fool.”

Instead of following through with a lariat, Killer B performed a leg sweep to take out Jiraiya’s legs from under him.

Jiraiya wasn’t fooled. His hair bristled, before growing explosively to envelop his legs. There was a metal clang as Killer B’s leg bounced off it. Jiraiya’s defence immediately turned into an offence. His hair continued to grow out, and the ends of it changed to form a mouth with rows of sharp teeth. 

Killer B pushed off the ground with his hands and performed a series of backward flips to escape the attack. When it wasn’t enough to escape the hair, tentacles emerged from his back and formed a shield in front of him. The mouth struck the shield while he was in mid-air and sent him hurtling from the air. He landed on his feet, unharmed by the attack.

The hair didn’t continue to pursue him. Instead, it held its position, poised to strike again in case Killer B moved forward again.

“The mofo is taking this way too seriously,” Killer B said, starting to perform some stretches as if he wasn’t in a life-and-death battle. “It’s like he was trying to kill me or something.”

Gyuki growled. “Get your head in the game. Of course he's trying to kill you! And don’t just stand around like a fool. He probably has reinforcements coming to back him up.”

Killer B ignored him. “What a total mess. A is going to be so angry when he finds out I was discovered.”

“Why don’t you say that louder so your opponent can hear you?”

“Relax, he is too far away to hear us,” Killer B replied. “Hey, what is he doing?”

Jiraiya had drawn a seal on his face out of his own blood and was holding his palms together. He showed no interest in moving forward to continue fighting.

“Fool! Do you remember your intelligence brief on the Toad Sage! He has an imperfect Sage Mode, so he has to summon toads and merge with them to use it.”

Killer B’s eyes widened. “That’s not good? Should I engage him or run away?”

“Jiraiya must have already figured out what your presence means. I suggest you escape before others arrive and you are captured.

Killer B nodded. He waved at Jiraiya. “Sorry, I can’t stick around to fight. Maybe we can have a round at a later date.”

“Look out!”

Killer B executed a hasty substitution right before a large orb of water exploded on the ground, causing a cloud of dust to envelop the area. He appeared twenty feet away, having exchanged places with a branch that had been lying on the ground.

“Brat,” Gamabunta smirked. “Did you forget I was here?”

Gamabunta exploded forward, covering the distance in an instant. He withdrew his blade from his sheath and executed a vertical slash. Killer B evaded the attack easily, but the toad was persistent, and continued to pursue him, manoeuvring to keep him from escaping the area.

“That’s not cool,” Killer B yelled. “I’m going to lay the smackdown on you, fool.”

Instantly, a red cloak of chakra enveloped Killer B’s body. He stopped running and turned to confront Gamabunta. The toad spewed oil from his mouth in an attempt to smother him in the sticky substance. 

Killer B blurred forward, avoiding the oil, and buried his fist in Gamabunta’s stomach. Although Killer B looked minuscule in comparison to the toad, the attack pushed him back over a dozen feet.

Gamabunta spat some blood. “I can’t hold this monster for long. Hurry up, Jiraiya.” 

Killer B advanced forward again, and this time, Gamabunta was the one that was retreating. He opened his mouth and released another water bullet, but his opponent was too fast. It exploded harmlessly on the ground, and he felt Killer grab one of his feet.

“How dare you!” Gamabunta croaked.  

Killer B lifted Gamabunta up and began spinning the large toad in circles. Once enough momentum had been generated, he released the toad, who went flying through the air, and crashed into the rock wall surrounding the cave entrance.

Gamabunta slid to the ground with a groan. “I’m out for the count, Jiraiya."

The toad disappeared with a pop.

Killer B started dancing around. “What do you get when a toad slams into a rock wall? Toad-kill, yo!”

Gyuki yelled. “We don’t have time for your antics!”

Off into the distance, Jiraiya smiled. “Good work, Gamabunta. You brought me the time I needed.”

With a pop, Fukasaku and Shima appeared, merged into his shoulder. At the same time, his features had become more frog-like after he entered Sage Mode.

“Why did you have to summon us, Jiraiya boy,” Fukasaku asked. “We were having a fascinating—”

He stopped when he spotted Killer B off in the distance. “Oh, that’s the reason.”

Shima squinted. “It looks like the jinchuuriki isn’t taking you seriously yet. Why don’t we take things up a notch.”

“Exactly what I was thinking,” Jiraiya said. He held out his hands and two massive spiralling balls of chakra bloomed into existence. The ground kicked up dust as he exploded forward, covering the distance to his opponent in an instant.

Killer B witnessed Jiraiya enter Sage Mode and he immediately turned serious. Without hesitation, he activated Tailed Beast Mode. Huge tentacles sprouted out of his body as he began rapidly transforming into the Hachibi.

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

Ten minutes earlier. 

Naruto was suspicious.

Gamamaru was hiding something from him. The toad likely knew something about the squirrel, who wasn't a squirrel. If he hadn't been so eager to return to Uzushio, he would have questioned him further. Kushina had been in contact with the squirrel all this time and it could have done something to her at any point. He didn’t know if it was a summons or a technique, but it didn’t matter in the overall scheme of things.

He was about to ask Fukasaku to return him and Kushina to Uzushio, when Gamamaru stopped him. 

"Wait a moment, Naruto," Gamamaru said. "Before you go, there is something that I want to verify."

"What is it?" Naruto asked.

"Be respectful," Shima chastised him.

"Have you tried summoning your chains?" Gamamaru inquired.

Naruto shook his head. "No. Why is that important?

"I'm curious to see if anything has changed."

"I don't have time for this," Naruto grumbled.

Gamamaru squinted. "I believe it will help you with your task upon your return to Uzushio."

Naruto grumbled but didn't argue further. He summoned his chains with a thought but was surprised to see they were far different from before. There were now six chains, and they extended out from his back rather than his torso. He felt a strong connection to them and sensed he could manipulate each one individually, like it was just another extension of his body. 

"They look so cool!" Kushina exclaimed.

"You can see them?" Naruto asked in surprise.

"It seems like everyone can see them, Naruto boy," Fukasaku said. 

So, they were now visible to everybody, not just anyone who was sensitive to nature energy. He didn't know how he felt about that.

Naruto decided to perform some experiments. He manipulated one of the chains, which slid over his shoulder and wrapped around Kushina's waist. He lifted her carefully until she was dangling a few feet above the ground. His experiment had confirmed that his chains were now tangible and could interact with other objects or living things.

"I'm flying," Kushina cheered, forgetting her sadness over the missing Bubbles. "Go higher!"

Naruto followed her instructions and raised her higher into the air.  

Why have the chains changed so much? Something happened to them after he had successfully entered Sage Mode. Or did the changes happen earlier? It was also possible that the act of absorbing nature's energy triggered the change but since he hadn't summoned his chains since arriving here, he was completely oblivious to it.

"Interesting," Gamamaru observed. "It appears that some of my assumptions about the true nature of the chains were incorrect. They're considerably more than I could have imagined."

After Kushina had her fun, he lowered her back to the ground. Next, he manipulated the other chains until they hung in front of him. It was awkward to manage them all simultaneously, as they felt sluggish and erratic. It might take him some time to get used to controlling them. Each chain had a distinct colour: red, blue, purple, gold, black, and white. He was unsure of their significance but assumed there must be a purpose behind them.

The toads had stopped their celebrations and gathered around to watch him experiment with his chains. They appeared to show a degree of reverence, as if they were witnessing something special.

His next experiment involved Naruto extending the blue chain out as far as he could. He was shocked to see it explode outward and shoot out across the clearing, forcing several toads to dodge to avoid being hit. The chain must have reached thirty feet before it finally stopped.

"Sorry," Naruto called out. With a thought, he retracted the chain, which came rushing back towards him before coming to a halt right in front of him.

The chain's reach had increased significantly, but he had felt a pull on his chakra reserves when he extended them out. Did using them now cost chakra, and was the length of the chain dependent on how much chakra he used? He experimented with the chain again, and this time, they reached fifty feet before he stopped feeding them chakra, confirming his theory. If he had access to an endless supply of chakra, then the chains might be able to span across the entire continent.

Naruto frowned. "What the hell is going on?" 

Fukasaku grinned. "It seems you are full of surprises, Naruto boy."

Gamamaru studied the chains carefully. "It's almost as if they have been released from their sealed state after learning how to absorb nature energy."

Naruto frowned. "I don't see the benefits to them. Sure, once I master them, I might be able to incorporate them into my fighting style. But I think I preferred it when they allowed me to read people's intentions clandestinely."

"Why do you assume you have lost that ability? What about the gold chain?" Gamamaru asked. “It looks identical to the chains you were using before. You may have retained the ability to sense others' intentions, but you just haven't realised it yet."

"But they are no longer intangible," Naruto argued, reaching out to touch the gold chain.

“Are you sure? Perhaps you need to trigger them somehow. Why don't you try it out on me?"

"Gamamaru!" Shima objected. "There is no reason for you to do it. Let's use someone else."

"Silence!" Gamamaru croaked. "There's nothing to be worried about. I’m not going to let a little whippersnapper harm me."

Naruto manipulated the gold chain, and it wrapped around one of Gamamaru’s feet. Immediately, he could tell that the gold chain functioned the same as before, but there were some enhancements. He could sense Gamamarus' emotions, which were filled with curiosity and anticipation, but some surface thoughts also bled over, giving him some more specific information. Gamamaru’s mind was filled with thoughts about the prophecy. Naruto’s current situation had solidified the toad's belief that he was the child of prophecy.

He retracted the chain, hardly believing that he could now read someone’s thoughts. This would allow him to better gauge a person’s intentions. There was no way of knowing how effective it would be in practice, though, as a highly disciplined mind might be able to control their surface thoughts to such an extent that they wouldn’t reveal anything.

Naruto told Gamamaru about his discovery.

“Hmm, Gamamaru pondered for a moment. “It’s incredible that you can already do that much. I wasn’t actively guarding my mind, though. But it’s possible that you need to practise more to bring out its full capabilities.

“You still felt the chains, though,” Naruto pointed out. “They are different from before, when no one was able to sense they were there.”

“It’s possible that you lost that aspect of your ability,” Gamamaru admitted. "You won't know until you've fully explored it. There's something else that you have to take into consideration.”

“What is it?”

Gamamaru pointed at his other chains. “I suspect they may grant you more abilities.”

Naruto supposed that was a logical conclusion to reach. It would explain why the chains were all different colours. He had no idea what they could be, though.

“We can assume the chains are working as intended,” Gamamaru said. “Which means you need to think about what your mother was trying to achieve. That may give you a clue as to what kind of abilities you have.”

Naruto was about to reply when he heard Shima cry out. Gamabunta had appeared in the clearing, looking beaten up. Shima rushed over to him, and he said something to her.

“What’s going on?” Naruto asked.

“Jiraiya is summoning us to activate Sage Mode,” Shima said urgently. “Gamabunta told me he is fighting the jinchuuriki of the Hachiba.”

Fukasaku and Shima sat on the ground in a meditative position. 

Naruto rose to his feet, feeling a surge of adrenaline through his body. “The Hachibi? Why is he on the island? Does this have anything to do with—”

“Silence!” Fukasaku barked. “We need to concentrate.”

A couple of minutes later, they disappeared from the clearing with a pop.

“I need to return to Uzushio,” Naruto said, feeling the urgency of the situation keenly.

“You need to prepare a summoning scroll,” Gamamaru reminded him. “We didn’t do it beforehand because we weren’t expecting an emergency.”

“Dammit,” Naruto cursed. He sat down and pulled out a scroll, as well as his Sakurai Burashi. Although he was in a rush, he reminded himself that he couldn’t afford to make mistakes, as it would delay him even further.

As he inscribed the kanji, his hand appeared to almost blur across the paper. The fuinjutsu formation was intricate, so despite his speed, it took him a few valuable minutes to complete.

He sat down on top of the scroll and looked around impatiently, waiting to be sent off.

Gamakichi appeared and formed a hand seal. “Go take care of business. I will look after Kushina.”

“Thanks, Gamakichi. Where are you—”

Naruto didn't get to finish his question. He disappeared from Mt Myoboku and reappeared in the village, right inside his new house. A toad stood before him, placed there to help facilitate his return to the village.

“What’s the current situation?” Naruto asked.

“Why don’t you listen with your ears?” The toad sighed.

It was only at that moment that Naruto noticed a siren blaring outside. The village set up an emergency evacuation alert to respond to a major threat. He rushed down the stairs and nearly broke down the front door in his haste to get outside.

Naruto looked around but he didn’t see anyone. Jumping onto the building to gain a better view of the village, Naruto found it deserted, except for a few Shinobi patrolling the area. One of them quickly spotted him and rushed to his location.

“Naruto!” Neji landed on the roof.

“Has Jiraiya subdued the Hachibi yet?

Neji’s eyes widened. “Is that the threat we are fighting? I have been busy helping with getting the villagers to the sea cave.”

Naruto nodded. That was the designated evacuation point, as it would allow them to use the ships to escape the island if need be. “Where is Jiraiya right now?”

“I don’t know.”

Naruto frowned. With a thought, he activated Sage Mode, which caused Neji to take a step back in shock.

“What is that transformation?”

Naruto ignored him. He shut his eyes and focused on finding Jiraiya. Despite not having practised sensing chakra before, it was made easier due to Jiraiya's use of Sage Mode, which emitted senjutsu energy into the environment.

All vanished before him as his vision shifted to remote viewing, tracing the chakra in the air to its origin. It was disorienting, feeling like he was hurtling through the air at high speeds towards his destination, yet in truth, he remained motionless. In mere moments, he located Jiraiya, and his eyes flew open.  

He surged ahead, bounding over rooftops in the direction of the battle. His speed carried him swiftly out of the village, through the undeveloped area in mere seconds. Shortly after, he emerged from the village ruins, and traversed the desolate wasteland. The echoes of explosions reached him, and he soon caught sight of the battle.

Naruto was amazed. The scale of the battle before him was unlike anything he had witnessed. Jiraiya, in Sage Mode, was battling a colossal beast that he assumed was the Hachibi. Huge craters and debris littered the battlefield, showcasing the immense destructive power they possessed.

The Hachibi was a strange-looking beast. It had a muscular upper body with a hunched back, and huge arms with spiky protrusions on the elbows. It has hands with opposable thumbs, similar to those of a human. Instead of hind legs, its lower half consisted of eight tails that looked like tentacles. It had a massive bull-shaped head, with four large horns, with the lower left parts having been sliced off at some point. 

It took him a few seconds to understand the kind of fight taking place. In an attempt to subdue the Hachibi, Jiraiya was releasing large scale ninjutsu attacks. But it looked like his opponent was brushing off the attacks with relative ease. In comparison, it looked like the Hachibi was trying to escape from the fight, as it frequently disengaged from Jiraiya to look for an escape route.

This was due to the fact that several Shinobi were surrounding the two main combatants. They weren't directly involved in the fight, but they were making sure that the Hachibi didn't get away. Among them were Mei, Tsunade, Guy, Hiashi, and his father. 

Naruto approached his father, who was standing beside Mei. As Naruto came into view, his father's expression of utter surprise was satisfying. Mei followed Minato's gaze and smiled upon seeing Naruto.

“It looks like your training paid off,” Mei said when Naruto stopped in front of them. “You couldn’t have come at a better time.”

Minato's mouth was still hanging open, and he still couldn’t get a word out.

Naruto smirked. "What's the matter? I know I'm good-looking, but that doesn't give you the right to stare at me."

Minato snapped out of his stupor. “Naruto, has Sage Mode made you delusional? Even on your best day, you couldn't look better than me at my worst."

Naruto folded his arms behind his head. “Then you must be extremely jealous that I managed to achieve Sage Mode much faster than you.”

Minato scowled. “Is this really the time to be bragging?”

As if to remind them where they were standing, a huge explosion sounded. It sent Jiraiya flying backwards, causing him to tumble over the ground several times before he managed to regain control of his momentum.

Eight Tails followed him and smashed the ground with its tails where Jiraiya had been standing a second ago. Jiraiya used a combination attack with the toads, unleashing a massive stream of fire that had the Hachibi flinching backwards. However, the Hachibi showed no signs of injury.

“Why aren’t you joining the fight?” Naruto growled. “Jiraiya looks like he’s on his last legs. He can’t maintain Sage Mode forever. He relies on Shima and Fukasaku to gather nature energy. The Eight Tails could probably continue fighting for hours.”

“I was just about to interfere in the fight,” Minato said. “I have been waiting to see if any other Kumo reinforcements showed up first, but it looks like Eight Tails is alone.”

“How is he able to fully transform and maintain control?” Naruto asked. “Shouldn’t the Hachibi have gone berserk by now?”

“Killer B has managed to gain full cooperation with the Hachibi,” Mei replied. “He’s in a totally different league compared to the other jinchuuriki.”

Naruto’s eyes narrowed. That was something that he wanted to achieve with Kurama, but he wasn’t going to cooperate easily. He had to bargain with the fox by offering incentives, and he still wasn’t sure if that would work. 

“I don’t know if I could achieve the same transformation with Kurama,” Naruto said. 

“You don’t need to,” Minato replied. “You have a lot more natural advantages compared to Killer B. If you manage to reach even half the cooperation with Kurama as he does, then you will be one of the strongest in the Elemental Nations.”

Naruto grunted. "I'm feeling the urge to fight. Why don’t I go and help Jiraiya instead?”

“You're still not ready,” Minato said. "You may have managed to activate Sage Mode, but you are far from learning to utilise it. Let your old man show you how it's done.”

Killer B suddenly changed tactics. He tightly coiled the beast's tails around himself before extending them with an enormous amount of physical strength. This causes him to spin rapidly, resulting in the generation of tremendous gusts of wind that buffet everything in the surrounding area. Several enormous tornadoes began forming, and the winds became more violent. 

“Shit,” Naruto cursed, and he coated his feet with chakra to stick to the ground. If he hadn't, the buffeting winds might have blown him away. Mei did the same, looking on with a concerned expression. 

The cliffside was beginning to crumble beneath their feet, so they wouldn’t be able to stay there for long. Additionally, the noise was so loud that he could not hear anyone speaking.

Minato suddenly disappeared and reappeared next to the Hachibi. He must have seeded the area with kunai beforehand. Even with Hiraishin, it didn't afford Minato any advantages. With the Hachibi's rapid rotation, he had the perfect defence to prevent Minato from attacking him. Furthermore, Minato had to protect himself from the violent winds buffeting him, which would affect his combat efficiency.

Two tornadoes surrounded the Eight-Tales at all times, while more tornadoes continued to form further out. If they don't intervene now, the tornadoes might destroy the island.

Tsunade appeared beside him, along with the other Shinobi that had come to assist in the battle. She performed a series of hand seals and then slammed her palms on the ground. A transparent barrier enveloped them, and they were cocooned in a pocket of calm as the winds continued to rage outside.

“This is getting out of hand,” Mei said. “We should have intervened sooner.”

“Don’t underestimate them,” Tsunade said. “Jiraiya and Minato already have a plan.”

Naruto watched as the two started moving around the Hachibi, pausing to execute a jutsu before continuing onward. They kept repeating this over and over, but he couldn’t figure out what they were doing. He watched intently to see what hand seals they were using. It looked like they were laying anchors down for something more elaborate.

“They are setting up a barrier to contain the Hachibi,” Tsunade explained before anyone could ask. “If they can seal it inside, then the tornadoes will lose their momentum.”

“Don’t they need more Shinobi to set it up?” Hiashi asked. “They will need a massive amount of chakra to contain a tailed beast.”

Tsunade shook her head. "When he is using Sage Mode, Jiraiya has a massive amount of chakra reserves. "Minato also has access to an almost limitless amount of chakra, so they should be fine."

Just as she uttered those words, a tornado swept Jiraiya off his feet while he was preparing another anchor for the barrier. The toads disappeared with a pop, and he transformed back into his normal self. He struggled to get up from the ground, but it looked like he didn’t have anything left to give.

“I’m going out there,” Naruto announced. “I can finish Jiraiya’s part.”

“It’s too dangerous,” Mei argued. “You’re too valuable to risk fighting this monster.”

“If we don’t do anything, this island might be torn apart,” Naruto said, before turning to Guy. “Can you retrieve Jiraiya for me?”

Guy gave him a thumbs up. “It’s the least I can do.”

“Be careful,” Tsunade said. “If anything happens to you, I’m going to hunt down Orochimaru, so he can summon you back from the dead. Then I will have an endless number of opportunities to punish you for daring to die.”

Naruto shuddered. “Understood."

Tsunade lowered the barrier temporarily, giving him and Guy time to slip out. The winds buffeted them again, but Guy was able to push through them with his explosive speed. Naruto followed in his wake, using his slip stream to conserve energy. When he broke off from Guy and headed for the spot where Jiraiya had been setting up the anchor, he changed tactics. 

He continuously summoned up walls of earth in front of him to block out the worst of the wind. They proved effective enough, despite their short lifespan before obliteration. When he reached the anchor point, he set up some robust walls to give him some time to place the anchor.

It took him several tries to get the jutsu down. He may have seen the sequence of hand seals to perform it, but that didn’t mean he could do it instantly. When he finally managed it, he quickly moved on to the next one. He repeated it three more times before he met up with his father.

By this point, the Hachibi sensed something was up and stopped his rotation. By that point, it was already too late, and the barrier only needed one more step.

Minato performed a hand seal to activate the barrier. A massive transparent dome appeared to encompass the Hachibi, who smashed into it several times to try and break out of it. 

“It’s futile,” Minato said. “Thanks for stepping up, Naruto.”

Naruto grinned. “No problem. It wasn’t the most exciting action, but we managed to capture a jinchuuriki nonetheless.” 

In a final attempt, Killer B released a tailed beast bomb, and they shielded their eyes from the explosion. Once the dust had cleared, the barrier was still standing, albeit with several cracks in it. Before his eyes, the cracks started repairing themselves until the barrier was as good as new.

Killer B had transformed back into his human form and was sitting amidst a massive crater caused by the tailed-beast bomb.

“We need to interrogate him,” Minato said. “I have a feeling that his presence on the island is merely a precursor for bigger troubles to come.”

So, what do you think? In the next chapter, the village prepares for an invasion on the horizon.

Thanks for reading.